News Archive

According to the NAACP, the United States makes up only 5% of the world’s population but holds 25% of the world’s prison population. Four times more prisoners are incarcerated in the U.S. today than in 1980 due to the War on Drugs. [1]

Imagine a manufacturer of widgets, let’s call them Widget Corporation, which commands a forty percent share of the widget supply market. After assessing the market, Widget Corporation decides to acquire its closest competitor, Widgets-R-Us, which represents thirty-five percent of the market. Post-acquisition, the combined company would have a seventy-five percent share of the widget supply market. An acquisition which results in such a high market-share concentration would likely raise red flags to U.S. government antitrust enforcement agencies, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, as it may substantially lessen competition in the widget market.

The Presidential Executive Order on Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth, signed on March 28, 2017 by President Trump at EPA headquarters, dramatically changes the U.S. energy sector’s regulatory landscape.

While the White House has decided to continue Obamacare payments, Trump has cut contraception regulations that protect women’s rights to health coverage. The labor market continues to tighten, however manufacturing in Philadelphia has declined slightly.

As the United States continues to play its role as a leader of the global community, there is one area in which the nation falls far behind its progressive counterparts: paid sick and family leave. Paid sick and family leave is the idea that working men and women should have the ability to earn paid time away from work to care for a new child, ill family member, or themselves, while protecting against discrimination or retaliation for needing or taking leave.

President Trump’s infrastructure plan is largely based on removing regulations that would prepare the country for climate change. The FOMC’s anticipated minutes have pushed the dollar up. Britain’s unemployment dropped to it’s lowest level since 1975.

Trump signed an executive order on infrastructure. California and other states and municipalities have sued the Trump Administration over funding cuts for sanctuary cities. The US is seeing gains to spending, as China’s economy starts to cool down.

On March 16th, 2017 White House budget director Mike Mulvaney drew headlines for his press briefing regarding the administration’s budget proposal. His comments on one topic, after school programs that provide meals for low-income students, received significant airplay.

The White House is looking to address NAFTA renegotiations and trade with China this week. Markets are calming now that North Korean fears are cooling. The Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, is supporting lower interest rates.

The 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, more commonly known as Dodd-Frank, is a target for repeal among conservative lawmakers hoping to eliminate a signature legislative achievement of the Obama Administration.

President Donald Trump ran his campaign largely on the premise that the United States’ engagement in international trade, diplomacy, and development has weakened its position in international politics.

Insurance companies are waiting to hear about the future of Obamacare. The EPA is looking to roll back standards for fuel economy despite industry pushback. Inflation continues to rise slowly and the housing market is becoming increasingly unaffordable.

Jobless claims rose last month, despite still being well below the measure for a healthy labor market. Insurance companies are asking for rate hikes from the government due to Obamacare uncertainty caused by the President. The dollar is sliding as President Trump continues to stoke fears of conflict.

Border Adjustment – politicians on both sides of the aisle have lobbied the term back and forth, representing it both as a cure to America’s broken tax code and as an “idea so stupid that only an intellectual would believe [it].” [1] With House Republicans promising a comprehensive tax reform package by 2018, it is important to understand the fundamentals of the proposal.

In hosting the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic games in 2016, the Brazilian economy may appear to be on the up-and-up. Once the booming center of Latin America, Goldman Sachs economist Jim O’Neill thought Brazil worthy of the now-famous “BRICS” moniker in 2001, placing it among economic powerhouses Russia, China, India, and South Africa. [1] As of late, however, Brazil has suffered a fall from grace; 0.1% GDP growth in 2014 followed by 3.8% and 3.3% declines in 2015 and 2016 respectively. [2]

On November 8, 2016, Donald Trump was elected into office as the President of the United States. Upon entering the office, he made quite a few promises to the American public on what he would accomplish during his term.

For thousands of years, the only oil that most people thought came out of the Mediterranean was meant for dipping bread in. However, recently discovered natural gas fields off the coasts of Cyprus, Israel, and Egypt are dramatically changing the playing field.

President Trump’s stunning election victory last November breathed new life into the “Audit the Fed” movement. He promised supporters along the campaign trail to increase transparency over monetary policy decisions made by the Federal Reserve.

Apple is being investigated by U.S. trade authorities for patent infringement. It is looking increasingly unlikely that a “clean” debt ceiling bill passes. The tension in North Korea is likely to spook markets. Productivity in the U.S. has risen as oil prices drop.

If regulations are not enforced to curb environmental damage or stop-gap processes are not implemented to assist struggling farmers in coping with climate change, the agriculture industry in Vietnam will face major changes by the end of the century. The salinization of the Mekong Delta and decrease in agricultural land highlight the issues the nation will face.

The Justice Department under Attorney General Jeff Sessions is targeting sanctuary cities. The Interior Department is looking to expand mining and drilling on federal and native land. Job openings hit a record high and small business confidence rises.

We live in an age in which terrorism takes a broad range of forms from rudimentary Molotov cocktails and home-made bombs to cyber hacking. As technologic capabilities soar, terrorism includes a wider variety of threats, and the U.S. government must add and adapt policy to address the ever-broadening term “terror.”

Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The most sacred of the duties of government [is] to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.” Since it was founded in 1870, the Department of Justice’s mission has been to: “enforce the law and defend the interests of the United States according the law; to provide federal leadership in preventing and controlling crime; to seek just punishment for those guilty of unlawful behavior; and to ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” [1]

In November 2014, a worldwide bribery investigation involving tens of millions of dollars, four continents, and the law enforcement agents of ten nations came to an end at a courthouse in New Haven, Connecticut [1]. There, the United States Department of Justice assessed the largest sanction in the history of its enforcement of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and fined French rail transport company Alstom S.A. $772 million [2].

Employers added 209,000 jobs in July, while hourly wages increased by 2.5%. The Senate also approved a right-to-try bill for unapproved healthcare options. Brexit also appears to be affecting GDP growth estimates for the UK.

The GOP has moved the debate over the future of healthcare back to the committees, increasing hope that they will return to bipartisanship. Republican governors are also working to reform healthcare within their states. Jobless claims have continued to fall as the labor market tightens, but despite this, inflation continues to stagnate.

<h3>The Penn World Table</h3><p> The Penn World Table provides purchasing power parity and national income accounts converted to international prices for 189 countries/territories for some or all of the years 1950-2010.</p><p><a href="https://pwt.sas.upenn.edu/php_site/pwt71/pwt71_form.php" target="_blank">Quick link.</a> </p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>National Bureau of Economic Research (Public Use Data Archive)</h3><p><img width="180" height="43" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/180/height/43/478_nber.rev.1407530465.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image478 lw_align_right" data-max-w="329" data-max-h="79"/>Founded in 1920, the <strong>National Bureau of Economic Research</strong> is a private, nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to promoting a greater understanding of how the economy works. The NBER is committed to undertaking and disseminating unbiased economic research among public policymakers, business professionals, and the academic community.</p><p> Quick Link to <strong>Public Use Data Archive</strong>: <a href="http://www.nber.org/data/" target="_blank">http://www.nber.org/data/</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>Congressional Budget Office</h3><p><img width="180" height="180" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/180/height/180/380_cbo-logo.rev.1406822035.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image380 lw_align_right" data-max-w="180" data-max-h="180"/>Since its founding in 1974, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has produced independent analyses of budgetary and economic issues to support the Congressional budget process.</p><p> The agency is strictly nonpartisan and conducts objective, impartial analysis, which is evident in each of the dozens of reports and hundreds of cost estimates that its economists and policy analysts produce each year. CBO does not make policy recommendations, and each report and cost estimate discloses the agency’s assumptions and methodologies. <strong>CBO provides budgetary and economic information in a variety of ways and at various points in the legislative process.</strong> Products include baseline budget projections and economic forecasts, analysis of the President’s budget, cost estimates, analysis of federal mandates, working papers, and more.</p><p> Quick link to Products page: <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/about/our-products" target="_blank">http://www.cbo.gov/about/our-products</a></p><p> Quick link to Topics: <a href="http://www.cbo.gov/topics" target="_blank">http://www.cbo.gov/topics</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>National Center for Education Statistics</h3><p><strong><img width="400" height="80" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/400/height/80/479_nces.rev.1407787656.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image479 lw_align_right" data-max-w="400" data-max-h="80"/>The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) is the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations.</strong> NCES is located within the U.S. Department of Education and the Institute of Education Sciences. NCES has an extensive Statistical Standards Program that consults and advises on methodological and statistical aspects involved in the design, collection, and analysis of data collections in the Center. To learn more about the NCES, <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/about/" target="_blank">click here</a>.</p><p> ﻿Quick link to NCES Data Tools: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/datatools/index.asp?DataToolSectionID=4" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/datatools/index.asp?DataToolSectionID=4</a></p><p> Quick link to Quick Tables and Figures: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/quicktables/" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/quicktables/</a></p><p> Quick link to NCES Fast Facts (Note: The primary purpose of the Fast Facts website is to provide users with concise information on a range of educational issues, from early childhood to adult learning.): <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/" target="_blank">http://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/#</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>

<h3>Internal Revenue Service: Tax Statistics</h3><p><img width="155" height="200" alt="" src="/live/image/gid/4/width/155/height/200/486_irs_logo.rev.1407789424.jpg" class="lw_image lw_image486 lw_align_left" srcset="/live/image/scale/2x/gid/4/width/155/height/200/486_irs_logo.rev.1407789424.jpg 2x" data-max-w="463" data-max-h="596"/>Find statistics on business tax, individual tax, charitable and exempt organizations, IRS operations and budget, and income (SOI), as well as statistics by form, products, publications, papers, and other IRS data.</p><p> Quick link to <strong>Tax Statistics, where you will find a wide range of tables, articles, and data</strong> that describe and measure elements of the U.S. tax system: <a href="http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Stats-2" target="_blank">http://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Stats-2</a></p><p>See all <a href="/data-resources/">data and resources</a> »</p>